


Nobody Said It Would Be This Hard

by Allofthebowtiesandscarves (orphan_account)



Category: Glee
Genre: Daddies!Klaine AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-10 22:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3305402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Allofthebowtiesandscarves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daddies!Klaine. Kurt and Blaine adopt a baby girl but not everything goes as they had planned. Will everything turn out fine with them and the baby? Some angst and some fluff ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was their first evening at home with the three of them: Kurt, Blaine and Ella. They just got back from the hospital where they had to make sure everything was still okay with the paperworks for the adoption.

They had waited so long for this, getting a child. It took a long time before they actually agreed on adopting one. Kurt thought they were too young and too irresponsible to raise a baby on their own and every time Blaine protested Kurt brought up Bubble, Blaine’s goldfish who died when Blaine forgot to feed him for three days. Eventually Kurt agreed to adoption when he saw Blaine being all adorable with Daniel, mister Schuester’s kid.

Today was the most stressful day of the process. In fact it was the most stressful day of their lives. This morning, Blaine couldn’t tie his bowtie on his own because his hands were too shaky. Kurt burned himself on the coffee pot when he hastily tried to get another cup. All they could think of was: we’re finally becoming parents.

‘Come on, babygirl,’ Kurt cooed while he carried the purple carrycot in the house, ‘Let’s get you inside huh?’ Blaine was trailing behind them, locking the car and jogging up to meet his husband and child in the living room.

‘Isn’t she the sweetest, Kurtie?’ Blaine asked after Kurt put the carrycot down on the dining table, he put his arm around Kurt’s waist while he reached out to stroke over Ella’s cheek.

‘She’s adorable, just like you,’ Kurt answered.

Blaine didn’t look up at Kurt, too mesmerized by the cute girl in front of him. ‘I can’t believe we did it, Kurt. We’re parents, baby, we-we’re fathers.’

Kurt kissed his husband’s cheek. ‘We sure are,’ he murmured against the skin and tasted some saltiness on his lips. When he pulled away he saw a tear trickling down Blaine’s face. ‘Baby? What’s wrong?’ he asked, unsure of what Blaine’s answer was going to be.

‘Nothing,’ Blaine answered with a teary smile on his face, ‘Everything’s just perfect. We have a beautiful home, a beautiful daughter to take care of and I’m married to the sweetest man on earth. My life is absolutely perfect.’

‘So they’re tears of happiness?’ Kurt asked.

Blaine nodded and smiled at Kurt. ‘Yeah, yeah of course they are sweetie.’ Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and buried his face in his neck. ‘We’re a family now.’

Kurt looked at Ella who in her turn looked at Kurt with bright blue eyes and had the tiniest of smiles on her rosy lips. ‘Oh my God, Blainey, look! She’s smiling at us!’

Blaine looked at his daughter on the table and untangled himself from Kurt to crouch down in front of her. He wiggled his finger close to her tiny hand and squealed when she softly grabbed and squeezed it. ‘Hey little Ella, papa loves you so much. You have no idea how much papa and daddy love you,’ Blaine said and kissed Ella’s hand. He felt Kurt’s hand coming to rest on his shoulder and he smiled.

‘You’re going to be a wonderful dad, I can feel it,’ Kurt said and gently squeezed.

‘You too, babe,’ Blaine threw his head back to look at Kurt, ‘You too.’

Kurt leaned down to kiss Blaine. It was an awkward kiss because Blaine was sitting in a weird position but they loved each other and that’s all that matters. When Kurt pulled back to smile at Blaine he whispered: ‘I love you.’

‘Mmm, I love you too,’ Blaine replied and then turned back to Ella, ‘And I love you too.’

‘You know she doesn’t understands you yet, right?’ Kurt asked.

‘I know, but she needs to recognize our voices,’ Blaine answered, ‘Don’t you, you little sweetheart?’ He put his hand gently on Ella’s chest and felt her little heart beat.

‘You’re probably going to be the father who sings his daughter to sleep every night,’ Kurt chuckled.

‘Nonsense, we’re both going to be that kind of dad,’ Blaine protested, ‘You’ll sing Lady Gaga songs and I’ll sing Katy’s.’

‘That kid is going to get so many headaches because of us… Her first words are probably going to be “shut up you losers and let me sleep!”,’ Kurt said in a way that Blaine found incredibly adorable.

‘Again, nonsense! She’s going to love us!’ Blaine smiled and looked at Ella who yawned, ‘I think our little angel is tired,’ Blaine got up and started to unstrap Ella from the carrycot, ‘Let’s get you to somewhere more comfortable huh?’ Blaine carefully took Ella in his arms and walked over to the couch where he sat down and held Ella close to his chest. He looked at Kurt and saw that Kurt was looking at them the way he looked at Blaine on the day they got married. A look full of adoration and eternal love.

‘Wait, wait, wait,’ Kurt said to himself while he walked towards the bedroom, ‘Don’t you dare move, Blaine!’

Blaine shrugged and whispered to Ella: ‘I don’t know what’s up with daddy but he’s very happy that you’re here.’ He heard Kurt’s padded feet getting closer but didn’t take his eyes of Ella until the flash of the camera caught his eye and he heard Kurt squeal.

Kurt came to sit down next to Blaine, held out the camera so that he could see the picture and said: ‘Look how adorable you two are! Rachel’s going to be so jealous!’

‘And even though daddy isn’t in high school anymore, his grudge for Rachel Berry is still alive and kicking,’ Blaine continued talking to Ella.

‘That’s because she kissed papa twice and daddy wasn’t too happy about that,’ Kurt said and held up two fingers.

‘Rachel’s kisses weren’t half as good as yours,’ Blaine said, ‘The second kiss didn’t even count, she was trying to prove something. I already knew that I loved you,’ Blaine leaned closer to Kurt to kiss his cheek.

Kurt stroked over Ella’s head, her light brown hair sticking up in different angles. Her eyes were drooping and Kurt figured she’d be asleep in Blaine’s arms in a few moments. ‘She’s so beautiful, just like her papa.’

Blaine protested: ‘I think she has her appearance more from her daddy instead of me.’

What they were doing now was silly: comparing their child to each other. They both knew Ella didn’t have any of their genes but at the hospital they’d been talking about how her nose looked like Blaine’s and her eyes looked like Kurt’s. Kurt hoped she would get Blaine’s hair. Curly locks that he could braid in the summer and where he could put a cute hat on in the winter. While Blaine would love it if she got Kurt’s hair. Straight, with a pony maybe and with locks that she would twirl around her finger when she gets older.

‘Maybe we should get her into bed, see how that works out. And then you can get some sleep too, since you woke up at 5am this morning,’ Kurt said when Blaine tried to stifle a yawn. 

‘Mhmm, yeah, sounds good,’ Blaine said and slowly got up from the couch and waited for Kurt to come and walk with him to their bedroom. In their bedroom was a pink crib close to Kurt’s side of their bed. Since Blaine was a heavy sleeper, they decided that the crib should be on Kurt’s side since he’s a light sleeper so he’d be up quicker when Ella would cry. The rest of the baby stuff was in the former guest bedroom which Blaine painted in a soft pastel purple and Kurt decorated with purple and yellow butterflies and flowers.

‘Come on, darling, sleepy sleep,’ Blaine whispered while he lowered Ella in the crib and covered her with the small blanket.

‘”Sleepy sleep”?’ Kurt asked, ‘You’re adorable.’

‘I say weird things and I use a lot of diminutives when I talk to kids, okay? Get used to it because I’ll do it a lot,’ Blaine said, he stood up straighter and rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder. They stared at the crib until Blaine yawned again.

‘I really think you need to “sleepy sleep” too,’ Kurt teased.

‘Mmm,’ Blaine mumbled and sauntered away from Kurt, ‘I’ll be in bed if you need me.’

‘I’m going to catch up on some work before I’m coming too, okay?’ Kurt walked over to Blaine’s side of the bed to kiss him sweetly on the lips, ‘Sweet dreams, honey, I love you.’

‘I love you too,’ Blaine mumbled before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

Kurt turned off the lights and quietly closed the door behind him, not wanting to wake up his two sweethearts. He sat down at the dining table and opened his laptop and his sketchbook at the page where he left. Isabelle gave him the chance to design a clothing line for whatever age or gender he wanted so of course he was designing clothes for babies and toddlers, hoping Ella could wear one of his designs one day. In his sketchbook were doodles of little purple and yellow colored dresses and matching shoes. Now he was sketching a yellow bowtie with purple hearts at the shoulder of the dress and smiled; Blaine would be stunned if he saw the design. The colors, the bowtie, everything about that design screamed “Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson!”.

He finished his diet coke before shutting his laptop off and closing his sketchbook. He tip-toed into the bedroom where he heard Blaine snoring softly and went to look in the crib. Ella was peacefully asleep just like her dad and Kurt grinned; he didn’t think their first night with the baby would go so well. He changed into his pajamas and got into bed next to Blaine, he threw his arm over Blaine’s waist and laid his head on his chest which rose and fell with the rhythm of his breathing. He smiled into Blaine’s chest when he felt Blaine’s hand coming up to rest on his back and Blaine moaned.

Kurt brushed his fingers over Blaine’s hip and closed his eyes. From now on their life was perfect, they found their missing puzzle piece. They were complete.


	2. Chapter 1

Blaine groaned and opened his eyes. There was no way it was morning already: it was way too dark in the room and too way quiet outside except for an ongoing, penetrating sound coming from somewhere close. He turned over and reached out to Kurt but instead, his hand found a cold and empty spot in in the king-size bed that was definitely not Kurt.

‘K’rt?’ Blaine slurred and propped himself up on his elbow. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand and focused in on the digits. 4:03 in the morning. Kurt should be in bed with him, snuggled up with him under the covers and being the big spoon. So why was he awake at this horrible hour? It was a Saturday and Kurt didn’t have to go to work for another week so he didn’t have to get up this early. ‘Kurt?’ he asked a little bit louder this time. Nothing except for the ongoing sound. It was only then he realized what the sound was.

Ella.

He hastily got out of bed and put on his sweatpants before stumbling to the door, chanting ‘Please, let Kurt and El be okay’ over and over in his head. He winced when he opened the door and Ella’s crying got louder. He slowly walked in and let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. Kurt was sitting on the couch, holding Ella close to his chest and whispering endearments into her ear, trying to soothe her. ‘Come on love, we don’t want to wake up papa don’t we?’

‘Too late, sweethearts,’ Blaine yawned and shuffled over to the couch to plop down next to his husband. Kurt should’ve woken him, so why didn’t he? He looked tired and Blaine wondered how long he was already awake.

‘I’m sorry, dear,’ Kurt answered, ‘I really didn’t want her to wake you up, you barely had sleep last night.’

‘It’s fine,’ Blaine said, ‘I need to get used to our daughter waking us up every night now.’ He gently stroked Ella’s cheek. ‘Oh thank God you guys are okay.’

‘What did you think that happened?’ Kurt asked.

‘Oh, you know… The usual “what the frick happened to my husband and child?” stuff. Maybe you caught a burglar and he knocked you out or kidnapped you and El was here on her own or something,’ Blaine shrugged.

‘I think papa watches a little too much television,’ Kurt said to Ella before turning to Blaine, ‘You watch way to many action movies.’

‘Do you know what I’d do if I found out you were kidnapped or something?’ Blaine asked and continued when Kurt shook his head, ‘I’d put on my Nightbird suit and come save you.’

‘You still have that hideous thing?’ Kurt scrunched up his nose.

‘Uh, that hideous thing might be useful when we go Trick-or-Treating at Halloween. Nightbird and his sidekicks,’ Blaine smiled, ‘It’s going to be so great.’

‘Oh and how are you going to name those sidekicks?’ Kurt wondered.

‘Ella could be um, Wonderella? Like, a crossing between Wonder Woman and her own name or Cinderella and Wonder Woman, whatever. And you could be… Flameboy!’ Blaine said excited.

‘I like Wonderella but ”Flameboy”? As in the stage name Phoebe suggests Joey in “Friends”? Are you crazy?’ Kurt laughed.

‘Why am I crazy? You’re hot, hence the flame and the last time I checked you were still, and luckily for me, a boy,’ Blaine replied.

Kurt shook his head but still smiled. ‘You’re the biggest dork I’ll ever come across.’

‘But this dork would save both of you if you are in trouble,’ Blaine smirked.

‘Oh, my hero,’ Kurt said dramatically, ‘Kiss me.’ He leaned closer to Blaine and cupped his neck with one hand since the other one was pretty occupied.

‘Of course my dear,’ Blaine answered and kissed Kurt.

‘And what are you crying about little one?’ Blaine asked Ella when he pulled away from Kurt, ‘Did the bad dreams get ya?’

Kurt sighed. ‘She’s been crying for an hour now, it’s exhausting. I sang her a couple of songs, checked her diaper, checked if she has a fever, tried to get her to eat… Nothing.’

Blaine wrapped an arm around his husband’s waist. ‘Do you want me to take care of her so you can go back to sleep?’ he yawned.

Kurt snickered. ‘You’re about to fall asleep again yourself.’

‘You got a point there,’ Blaine mumbled against Kurt’s shoulder.

Kurt shifted and laid down, making Blaine sit up straighter again. His feet were propped up on Blaine’s lap and his eyes fluttered shut when Blaine started massaging his feet. ‘Maybe this is a bit more comfortable for her, I read on one of those parenting blogs that when babies listen to their parent’s heartbeat they fall asleep faster.’

‘Can I lay my head on your chest too?’ Blaine asked, smiling.

‘You can, as long as you leave space for El,’ Kurt said.

Blaine clapped his hands together. ‘Yay,’ he said while shuffling a bit and making himself comfortable with his head on Kurt’s chest right next to Ella’s. ‘Your daddy’s a much better pillow than all the other ones, isn’t he El?’

Apparently Kurt was because Ella was already calmed down a bit and was now just wailing a little. ‘I think I’m the perfect pillow,’ Kurt whispered, ‘El’s almost asleep.’ He wrapped an arm around her and rubbed her back.

‘She’s not the only one,’ Blaine mumbled and snuggled into Kurt’s chest some more, ‘You know you can wake me up when you need me, right?’

‘I know. Sweet dreams, sweetie,’ Kurt kissed the top of Blaine’s head.

‘Sweet dreams,’ Blaine murmured and Kurt nodded, even though Blaine couldn’t see.

Kurt couldn’t sleep, he was afraid that if he closed his eyes Ella would start crying again. So instead he looked down at Blaine and Ella, Blaine was holding Ella’s hand and his thumb rubbed over her little fingers. Kurt thought it was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen and smiled. He carded his fingers through Blaine’s curls and started humming Robbie Williams’ “Angels” because well, he was laying on the couch with his two angels and there’s no other place he’d rather be.

Kurt was afraid of losing El, if he had to be honest. He was afraid of becoming a bad dad like Blaine’s father was to him. He was afraid he’d get angry at her for one silly little thing and that she’d hate him for that, that he couldn’t help Ella with her homework because he’s too busy for her, that he’d push her too far to do something she doesn’t want to do…

He was afraid that he’d hurt her in any way possible.

But what he was afraid of the most was… Blaine. Blaine probably was deadly afraid of becoming like his dad: uncaring, unforgiving, ruthless and most of all _hated_ by his child. And Kurt was afraid that when it all would become too hard for Blaine, he’d lose him. Forever, maybe. And then he’d get into a spot where he couldn’t get out of by himself: a single father who’s working a nine-to-five job and has a house to take care of.

He _needed_ Blaine, he loved Blaine and he wanted Blaine by his side on this rollercoaster ride called life. So he needed to make sure Blaine knew he was a wonderful parent and absolutely nowhere close to his dad and even if it’s going downhill for a while, Kurt would tell him he was doing great.

But they were both so young and the only thing they ever really had to take care of, died. Blaine’s goldfish and Pavarotti, of course.

Kurt was going to make sure nothing bad was going to happen to Ella, even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

*****

When Kurt opened his eyes that morning he noticed that both Blaine and Ella were gone. Then he heard the clatter coming from the kitchen and smiled when he heard Blaine mutter: ‘Godda-chocolate,’ and then whisper, ‘Chocolate is always better than a bad word so let’s use that instead huh? Plus, daddy loves chocolate. Did you know that daddy loves chocolate, sweetie? Oh, you’re so adorable. I’m never ever letting you go, daddy’s gonna need to pry you out of my hands if he wants to hold you again. Yes he will, oh yes he will. Because you love me more, don’t you?’

'Blaine? What are you doing? Are you turning Ella against me?' Kurt asked, loud enough so that Blaine definitely could hear it.

'God-chocolate, Kurt! You scared me,' Blaine answered, 'I'm making us breakfast. _We’re_ making breakfast to be exact. Ella and I are just bonding with each other, aren’t we sweetie?’

‘God-chocolate huh?’ Kurt chuckled and added, ‘We learn new vocabulary words every day. El’s gonna have a hard time at school with all the new words that you invent. Plus, El loves me more!’ He got up and walked into the kitchen where he saw Blaine standing by the counter with Ella strapped to his chest in one of those baby carrying bags. There were two plates in front of them and Ella’s bottle was in the microwave.

'Cute,' Kurt grinned at the sight of Blaine. His curly sleep rustled hair, naked torso, the muscles in his arms flexing with every move- 

'How long are you guys awake?' he said, cutting off his own train of thoughts.

'Half an hour, I guess,' Blaine shrugged, 'Ella was wailing so I took her for a little walk to the kitchen and everyone knows those are the best and most calming walks for all ages.'

'You should know, you practically live in the kitchen,' Kurt laughed and came closer to Blaine to wrap his arms around his waist and he hooked his chin over his shoulder.

'It's the best place in the whole house apart from the bedroom of course,' Blaine said.

Kurt waved at Ella in a purdy way and mouthed: ‘Hi, hi baby’ before playfully hitting Blaine’s arm and saying: ‘Blaine, you can’t say that in front of our child!’

'Sorry,' Blaine apologized, 'but it's true.'

Kurt snickered and reached over to grab a piece of chocolate off one of the plates. ‘Oh, this is the perfect way to start the day,’ he mumbled with a mouth full.

'See, daddy _loves_ chocolates,’ Blaine grinned at Ella. Then they heard the pinging sound of the microwave and Blaine made moves to get the bottle out but Kurt was quicker and was already opening the microwave and grabbing the bottle.

'Thanks honey,' Blaine smiled as he took the bottle from Kurt when he came to stand next to him again, ‘Okay, I guess we’re done! We did it, El! Woohoo!’ Blaine grabbed Ella’s little arms and made it look like she threw her hands in the air.

‘I’m starting to think you need to become a kindergarten teacher or something, you’re so good with children,’ Kurt chuckled.

‘You know, maybe I will,’ Blaine answered, ‘and then I can teach El some stuff. That would be awesome!’ He smiled at Ella who looked at Blaine’s chest uninterested. He glanced at the clock and his eyes lit up and he gasped. ‘Cartoon time!’

Kurt watched as Blaine took a plate and Ella’s bottle off the counter and walked to the couch where he plopped down and grabbed the remote. He carefully unstrapped Ella but still held her close to him. ‘Look, that’s Jerry and the cat over there is Tom. Now, they aren’t friends because Tom is a bad cat who wants to hurt Jerry but Jerry’s a good guy who likes to tease Tom and together they go through all sorts of adventures. Just like we are going to, just, less dangerous,’ Blaine explained and put a grape in his mouth.

Kurt sat down next to his husband. ‘Lots of adventures,’ he said and smiled at Ella.

‘We’ll go on holidays with the three of us and we’ll take you to school so you can make friends and we’ll promise that we’ll not judge your first boyfriend,’ Blaine said.

‘Or girlfriend,’ Kurt added, ‘You never know what could happen.’

‘True,’ Blaine smiled at Ella, ‘Our girl could become a ladies _and_ a boys magnet!’

Kurt laughed. ‘Oh Blaine, look at her. She’s going to be so beautiful when she grows up.’

‘If she’s going to look anything like her daddy then she’ll be gorgeous,’ Blaine smiled at Kurt.

‘You cute curly-haired weirdo,’ Kurt replied, grinning from ear to ear and playing with Blaine’s curls.

‘I love you,’ Blaine said, grabbing Kurt’s hand and bringing it up to his mouth to kiss the back of it.

‘I love you too,’ Kurt answered, ‘Now, can I hold El?’ He looked pleadingly at Blaine.

‘Oh yeah, sure sweetie,’ Blaine answered and carefully gave Ella to Kurt, who instantly got a smile on his face.

‘Hi, sweetiepie!’ Kurt said in a high-pitched voice, ‘Daddy missed his little sweetheart. We’re going to have so much fun together, aren’t we? We’ll go and play in the park and we’ll draw silly faces on papa while he’s asleep-‘

‘Hey!’ Blaine playfully smacked Kurt’s arm, ‘I don’t want to wake up looking like Hitler or something.’

‘Easy tiger, I wasn’t finished yet,’ Kurt chuckled and then continued talking to Ella, ‘And then we’ll bake him cookies on Sundays to show papa how much we love him.’

‘Aww, isn’t that what you and your mom used to do?’ Blaine asked and put his head on Kurt’s shoulder.

‘Yeah, I don’t want to let that tradition slip away from me. It’ll be the only connection El has with my mom. God, I wish she was here to meet her,’ Kurt cradled Ella in his arms and smiled when he felt Blaine kiss his cheek. 

‘I’m sure she’s looking down at us right now, sweetie,’ Blaine said.

Kurt worried his lip and stared at Ella.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Blaine asked and thumbed Kurt’s cheek.

‘We haven’t decided on El having a middle name yet, right?’ Kurt asked, tearing his gaze away from Ella to look at Blaine.

‘No, no I guess not,’ Blaine answered, ‘Why?’

‘Can we,’ Kurt took a deep steadying breath, ‘Would you mind if we call her Ella Elizabeth Anderson-Hummel?’

‘Of course not,’ Blaine said, ‘I think it sounds beautiful.’

‘I know it’s going to be a bit weird because Elizabeth is also my middle name but I really want El to remember her grandmother, even though she never got to meet her,’ Kurt said, smiling sadly.

‘No, it’s not weird. I know how much your mother meant to you and if you want to remember her that way then we’ll do that. It sounds beautiful, trust me,’ Blaine replied.

‘Thank you,’ Kurt whispered and he felt tears prickling in his eyes.

‘Hey, it’s okay,’ Blaine cooed and wiped a stray tear away that Kurt couldn’t keep from rolling down his face, ‘Don’t cry.’

‘I just never thought you’d say yes to this,’ Kurt said.

‘Of course I would’ve said yes. I’d do anything to make you happy and you know that,’ Blaine said.

‘I love you so much,’ Kurt smiled at Blaine.

‘I love you too,’ Blaine replied, ‘more than anything.’

*****

Later, after Kurt and Blaine put Ella to bed for her ‘afternoon nap’ Kurt sat down on their bed and patted on the duvet next to him. ‘Sit,’ he demanded.

‘Wow, you’re being bossy. I like that,’ Blaine said and sat down next to Kurt. ‘Is there something wrong, honey?’

‘Actually, no. I’m sorry,’ Kurt worried his lip again and lowered his gaze to the carpeted floor.

Blaine squinted his eyes. ‘Kurt, something’s going on. I can see it in your eyes and you barely have any skin left on your lip. Does it have something to do with what we discussed before? I didn’t hurt you, right? Why are you being sorry? Please Kurt, say some-’

‘Are you scared?’ Kurt interrupted Blaine’s rambling and looked up from where he was staring at the ground. He saw his husband’s confused look with a tad of sadness in it and wished he hadn’t said anything at all.

‘Scared?’ Blaine asked, ‘Of what?’ He furrowed his eyebrows and laid his hand on Kurt’s knee. ‘What should I be scared of?’

‘Of becoming like your dad?’ Kurt replied, barely louder than a whisper and swallowed.

Blaine raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh,’ he breathed out.

‘Now, I don’t want you to think that I think you’re going to turn out like him. You’re the complete opposite of him, Blaine. You love Ella, I know that, I can see that with my very own eyes. And I know that you’d never ever hurt her like your father hurt you,’ he reached up to brush some curls out of Blaine’s face, right above the tiny scar Blaine’s dad made a couple of years ago, ‘But I need you to know that too. Because I can’t lose you.’

Blaine’s father was a monster. He had hurt Blaine, hit him even. Kurt would never forget the day that Blaine unexpectedly showed up on their doorstep with a split lip, bleeding nose, a swollen black eye and a cut right above it. He was crying and he kept saying that he didn’t want to go back there, that he wanted to stay with Kurt and that he didn’t want to get hurt anymore.

He kept saying that he wasn’t safe anymore.

Kurt would also never forget how Blaine had clung to him and cried himself to sleep that night. Blaine was broken and Kurt promised him that he would fix him. So he asked his father and Carole if Blaine could come and live with them, since Finn was gone. Carole agreed instantly, saying that Blaine should be save and she immediately made Blaine some tea and brought cookies up to Kurt’s room where Blaine was hugging Kurt’s pillow tightly to his chest. Burt, on the other hand, didn’t agree at first but when he saw how much Blaine clung to his son and how hurt he was, he told Kurt and Blaine to get into the car to go and pick up Blaine’s stuff from his house.

‘You aren’t going to lose me, Kurt,’ Blaine answered, ‘You’re right, I’m afraid I’ll turn out like him and that I’ll hurt either you or El and that’s the last thing I want to do because I love you both so much. You guys are the only family I have left, that’s why I need you to keep me on the right path. But I promise you that you’ll never lose me.’

‘And I’ll be here whenever you need me and I’m sure Ella will too when she’s older. You’re going to be an amazing father, Blaine, Ella will love you,’ Kurt wrapped an arm around Blaine’s waist, pulled him closer and buried his face in Blaine’s neck.

‘Are you afraid?’ Blaine suddenly asked.

Kurt nodded. ‘Yeah, I am.’

Blaine hugged Kurt and rubbed soothingly over his back. ‘What are you afraid of, sweetie?’

‘Hurting her,’ Kurt murmured against Blaine’s skin, ‘What if I say something wrong to her one day that hurts her so bad that she’ll hate me for it? You know that in the heat of the moment I say terrible things and you know I don’t mean those things but she doesn’t know that yet.’

‘Hey, you won’t. You’re the sweetest, most loving person in the world! How could anyone hate you?’ Blaine replied, playing with the hair at the nape of Kurt’s neck.

‘I’m just afraid I’ll hurt her in some way,’ Kurt repeated with a sad undertone that Blaine hadn’t heard in a very long time.

‘Come here,’ Blaine wrapped his arms tighter around Kurt and pulled him into his lap, ‘We’ll both make sure that the other doesn’t hurt El, okay? We’ll be a happy family. She’s going to make beautiful drawings for you that’ll make your heart melt, she’ll be happy to show off your new designs and she’ll hug you when she goes to sleep every single night. Believe me, that’s definitely going to happen.’

‘You really think she’ll make drawings for me?’ Kurt asked, smiling a bit.

‘Of course she will! And then you can hang them in your office at Vogue and you can brag about how sweet our daughter is,’ Blaine smiled.

Kurt giggled. ‘I’d probably do that even if she wouldn’t draw me anything.’

‘Imagine it: your office full of drawings of our silly little family and maybe a portrait of your beloved husband thrown somewhere in between drawn by your daughter,’ Blaine said and frowned when Kurt started laughing quietly, ‘What?’

‘”Portrait of your beloved husband”?’ Kurt asked between fits of laughter.

‘Hey, I could be a good model,’ Blaine protested and “posed” with his hand in his hair and a sensual look on his face. He seductively bit his lip and winked when Kurt’s jaw dropped open.

‘Ooooh, very sexy,’ Kurt admitted and smirked. ‘Would the model mind if I kissed him?’

‘Not at all,’ Blaine smiled and leaned closer to Kurt to meet him halfway into the kiss. He felt Kurt smile against his lips and he closed his eyes for just a second, enough to take in the sounds Kurt was making and to take in the sweet smell of his vanilla scented shampoo.

‘All I want to do is get in bed and cuddle you,’ Kurt smiled when he pulled back a little.

‘Hey, that’s a coincidence! I wanted to do the exact same thing with you!’ Blaine let himself fall back onto the bed and pulled Kurt down with him. Kurt shrieked and Blaine shushed him as quick as possible because of Ella. ‘Shhh, Kurtie, otherwise we’ll wake El.’

‘Oops, yeah, sorry,’ Kurt giggled when Blaine sucked on his collarbone. ‘You just have that effect on me.’

‘You have a lot of effects on me,’ Blaine smiled, shuffled towards the pillows and tilted his head when Kurt stayed at the edge of the bed. ‘You coming?’

‘I’m coming!’ Kurt said and all but launched himself in Blaine’s open arms.

‘You’re crazy,’ Blaine snickered.

Kurt looked up at his husband. ‘Get used to it because El will be jumping up on our bed in a couple of years and she’ll be dragging us around the playground and the store and stuff.’

‘I can’t wait for those things to happen,’ Blaine said and squeezed Kurt’s arm.

After today, Kurt and Blaine were a little less convinced that they were going to be good parents. Blaine thought he was going to ruin it and Kurt thought that he was the one who was going to suck at this. But every day they grew to love Ella more and more and they figured that if they loved her like she was the most precious thing in the world, she would grow to have some love for them too.


	3. Chapter 2

'God-chocolate!' Kurt muttered under his breath while rustling through his files to find the right document he needed for the next meeting. Since Blaine used that word last week Kurt started using it too because he had to admit that he swore way to much in his daily life.

Kurt sighed when his phone rang, again. It wasn’t even lunchtime yet and he already got six calls from boring people who just wasted his time. He picked up without even looking at the caller ID. ‘What?’ he spat.

'K-Kurt?' Blaine’s shaky voice asked. Kurt’s heart fell at Blaine’s tone, he sounded so… sad. He could hear Ella crying in the distance and figured she was the cause of Blaine’s distress.

'Blaine? Oh honey I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. Is everyth-'

'C-can you come home? Please? I-I can't…' Blaine interrupted and Kurt instantly knew there was something terribly wrong.

'I'll be home in 15 minutes, okay?' Kurt said, clamping his phone between his shoulder and his ear while putting on his coat.

'O-okay,' Blaine answered and Kurt hung up. He stuffed all the things he needed for the next meeting in his shoulder bag and walked out of his office without looking back.

'Kurt?' Isabelle's assistant, Kayleigh, asked, 'Where are you going?'

'Gotta go, Blaine needs me at home! Tell Isabelle I'll call her!' he said while running to the elevator.

‘Good luck!,’ Kayleigh said right before Kurt was out of sight.

Kurt raised his hand to let Kayleigh know he heard what she said, he frantically pushed the button on the elevator and he was 100% sure he was annoying the crap out of the guy standing next to him but that didn’t matter, what mattered was that he had to get to Blaine and Ella as soon as he could.

He never should’ve left Blaine alone with Ella. Coming to work today was a stupid idea. They should’ve “practiced” this first, they both needed to get used to taking care of Ella on their own. Kurt was there with Blaine the whole week and when they needed to go shopping they took Ella with them. They didn’t leave her out of their sight for a second and the reason Kurt was ten minutes late this morning was because he didn’t want to leave Blaine alone and he kept saying ‘If you need me, call me’ until Blaine had to push him out of the house.

‘Come on, come on,’ Kurt muttered when the door of the elevator slowly opened. He jumped in before the other people could get out of the elevator and pushed the button to the lobby. He didn’t listen to the other people’s curses, he just had to get to the main floor of the building.

He started tapping his foot on the carpeted elevator floor and bit his nail. He thought that Blaine maybe could’ve handled Ella on his own but Blaine’s voice told him quite the opposite.

He speeded out of the elevator as soon as he could squeeze himself through the opening doors. He rushed past the lobby and out the door onto the parking lot where his car was. He got in, started his engine and drove off the parking lot, not caring about the speed limits; his family was way more important.

*****

‘Blaine?’ Kurt asked when he pushed the door open, ‘Blaine, where are you?’ He heard Ella crying pretty close to him so he walked into the living room and there was Blaine, sitting on the floor with his back against the couch and with a crying Ella in his arms.

‘P-please, El, stop crying. Please, please, please! W-what do you want from me?’ Blaine cried, he obviously didn’t hear Kurt come in. ‘I-I did everything!’

Kurt dropped his bag by the coat rack and rushed to Blaine. He crouched down next to him and carefully wrapped his arms around his husband. ‘Sweetie? Are you okay?’

Blaine shook his head without looking up at Kurt. ‘C-can you take El?’ Blaine asked and Kurt could hear the hurt in his voice, ‘Please?’

‘Sure, sure,’ Kurt reached out his arms and Blaine carefully handed Ella over before getting up and speeding to the bedroom. Kurt looked at Ella after Blaine closed the door. ‘What did you do? I’m gone for four hours and papa’s completely upset.’

He got up, walked to the bedroom door and knocked on it. ‘Blaine, sweetie? Can I come in?’

‘W-would you mind g-giving me some space?’ Blaine answered.

‘Of course not,’ Kurt said and walked back to the couch where he sat down. ‘I hope you have a good reason for making papa feel like this, El.’ He kissed the top of Ella’s head and sighed.

*****

Blaine sat down on Kurt’s side of the bed, facing Ella’s crib. Four hours. He had to call Kurt after only four hours. He was a loser. A complete loser who doesn’t deserve to be called a father. He let the tears roll freely down his cheeks. A loser.

Ella started crying ten minutes after Kurt left and she hadn’t stopped for a second since. He did everything: checked her diaper, fed her, sang to her, played with her, checked if she had a fever but nothing helped and Blaine was completely hopeless. He was tired, Ella had those days where nothing would please her and then Kurt would tell him everything’s okay but Kurt wasn’t there when he needed him the most. He was desperate and he missed Kurt and now Kurt was here, taking care of their daughter which he should be doing right now while Kurt was at the Vogue office.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. ‘Blaine? It’s been half an hour, can I come in now? Please?’ Kurt asked.

Blaine wiped his tears away, got up and walked to the door. ‘Hey,’ he said when he opened the door.

‘Hey,’ Kurt answered, not knowing what else to say.

‘Sorry for,’ Blaine took a deep breath, ‘for what happened before.’ He walked back to the bed and ran a hand through his curls.

Kurt looked at Ella in his arms and then back at Blaine. ‘Don’t worry ‘bout it,’ he said.

Blaine sighed and sat back down on the bed. ‘I’m a loser.’

‘Blaine, would you stop?’ Kurt said, ‘You. Are. Not. A. Loser. End of story!’

‘But four hours-’

‘End of story, Blaine!’ Kurt said, looking stern at Blaine, ‘It’s my fault you’re feeling this way, darling, don’t blame it on yourself.’

‘How in the world could this be your fault?’ Blaine asked.

Kurt looked at the floor, unable to look at Blaine’s face right now. ‘I was the one who left you here on your own,’ he whispered.

'You had to go to work,' Blaine said, 'That's different than “leaving me”, Kurt.'

'But still, we should've made sure that both you and me are able to take care of El while we're alone,' Kurt said, 'I know you think that you're going to be a bad father so I should be here for you, not take off to work.' He sat down next to his husband, wrapped one arm around him and smiled when Blaine nuzzled his face into the crook of his neck.

‘You aren’t mad at me for calling you at work, are you?’ Blaine asked.

Kurt rubbed over Blaine’s back. ‘No, no it’s okay. I missed you guys so actually I’m glad you called. You can always call me, Blaine, I’d never hang up on you.’

‘I just don’t understand what I’m doing wrong, I even laid in the same position you laid in last week. You know, the one where El’s laying on your chest? It doesn’t work with me,’ Blaine murmured.

‘Of course it works with you! Here,’ Kurt handed Ella to Blaine and got up from the bed, ‘lay down and gently lay El on your chest just like you did before.’

Blaine did what he was told and laid sprawled out on the bed with Ella on top of him. ‘Like this?’

‘Exactly,’ Kurt agreed, ‘and now you take your hand and support her so she doesn’t fall off of you and then you can rub her back or play with her hair or something, just make her feel comfortable.’

‘I tried that before but it didn’t work,’ Blaine pouted.

Kurt smiled sympathetically at his husband. ‘Sweetie, calm down. You’re stressed, your heartbeat needs to be slow and steady for her to calm down too. Just take deep breaths and focus on our happy family, okay?’

Blaine closed his eyes and smiled lazily. ‘Okay,’ he smiled. He slowly breathed in and out and traveled his hand up and down Ella’s back. ‘Shh, El, it’s okay. Daddy and papa are both here, don’t cry,’ he whispered.

But Ella didn’t stop, in fact, she started crying louder. ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ Blaine cooed, ‘Shh, come on, sleepy sleep. Do it for daddy, do it for papa…’

Kurt chuckled and sat down on the edge of the bed again, close to Blaine’s feet. He started rubbing them and every once in a while his hands roamed over Blaine’s legs. ‘Relax, babe, don’t rush it. She needs some time.’

‘I just thought it would be easy, you know?’ Blaine asked, ‘I thought she’d sleepy sleep every couple of hours, eat without spitting it back out… Okay, I’ll admit, there’s nothing we can do about the stinky diapers but I thought the rest was just going to be… Easy.’

‘Nobody told us it was going to be easy, darling. But hey, we’ll make it.’

‘Yeah, but nobody told us it would be this hard either,’ Blaine breathed out.

‘You’re right, nobody did,’ Kurt agreed.

‘The relax-thing does work with me,’ Blaine said after a minute or two, ‘I’m much more relaxed than before. Thank you for doing this,’ and moaned when Kurt’s hands kept making their way up and down his feet, ‘God, Kurt, that feels a-mazing.’

‘I know,’ Kurt snickered.

‘Mmm, I’m as relaxed as I can be. Why is El still crying?’ Blaine asked, ‘I’m not even a good pillow for my daughter.’

‘That’s weird, it works with me after a short while. Maybe she’s just being stubborn,’ Kurt said.

Blaine felt tears prickling in his eyes. ‘I suck at this,’ he whispered, ‘I can’t even make my own daughter fall asleep on my own chest which is apparently so easy with you.’

‘Don’t say those things, Blaine,’ Kurt said and leaned over to wipe one of Blaine’s tears away, ‘I had to figure it out myself too. Just take it easy.’

‘Okay,’ Blaine replied, ‘Lay with me? Please?’

‘Of course,’ Kurt said and laid down next to Blaine.

Kurt curled into Blaine’s side and kissed his shoulder. All he wanted to do was stay like this forever, together with his family.

*****

After a while, Kurt started wiggling his fingers in front of her face, hoping that the dancing phalanges would please Ella but nothing happened. ‘You know what?’ he asked eventually.

‘What?’ Blaine mumbled. ‘Something wrong?’

'No, everything's okay I just need my phone. I think it's on the counter in the kitchen.'

'Okay, hold on,' Blaine said, ‘Can you take El?’

‘Of course,’ Kurt said before talking to Ella, ‘Come here, sweetie. You’re in a real crying mood today huh?’ When Kurt looked up, Blaine was already gone.

It only took a few seconds before the door opened again and Blaine shuffled in. ‘Here it is,’ he said as he handed Kurt his phone.

'Thanks honey,' Kurt smiled.

'You're welcome. Who are you going to call?' Blaine asked and sat down on the edge of the bed.

'My dad,' Kurt said and held the phone to his ear after choosing his dad's number. 'Sorry babe but are you okay enough to take El back to the living room?

Kurt caught Blaine furrowing his eyebrows for a second and the idea that Blaine would break down again flashed his mind. ‘Yes, of course,’ Blaine said and leaned over to grab Ella, ‘I’m going to cheer you up, El, even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do.’ He walked out the room and closed the door behind them.

*****

‘Hey dad,’ Kurt said when his dad picked up the phone, ‘It’s been a while.’

‘Well then you should call me and Care more often,’ Burt replied.

‘Oh hey son! Yeah you’re right, it’s been a while but I’m so happy you called,’ Kurt said in a lower voice, trying to imitate his father.

Burt sighed on the other side of the line. ‘I am happy you called, Kurt. I just wished you called more often.’

‘Well, I’d do that if I wasn’t so busy taking care of our daughter,’ Kurt said like it was the most normal thing in the world he was talking about.

‘Kurt? Did you just say “daughter” or are my ears lying to me?’ Burt asked.

‘No, no, your ears are right. We have a daughter now, dad,’ Kurt answered.

‘Kurt, that’s… That’s just…’ Burt stuttered.

‘Fantastic? Amazing? Wonderful?’ Kurt guessed, smiling.

‘No, I mean yes but it’s early,’ Burt started, ‘You’re only 25 and Blaine’s 24!’

Kurt sighed. He knew his dad would say that and he was prepared for it. It was a low blow but he had to bring her up. ‘Dad, tell me, how old was mom when she gave birth to me?’

‘26, Kurt,’ Burt answered, sighing, ‘But that doesn’t change a thing! You two just got married, what will happen to her if you guys decide to break up?’

‘Nothing will happen to her because Blaine and I aren’t going to break up. We love each other and we both love Ella, I would never hurt Blaine like that and I’d definitely not hurt Ella,’ Kurt protested.

‘Okay, I get it. You guys are soulmates and everything but tell me why you’re really calling me,’ Burt continued.

This was the hard part of the conversation. If Kurt told his father that both he and Blaine are struggling with taking care of Ella, Burt would start with the “I told you so”’s and that what not what he needed. He needed advice.

‘Well, me and Blaine,’ Kurt paused, ‘we have a little problem and we need some advice.’

‘What kind of problem, kiddo?’ Burt questioned.

‘Ella cries a lot. Actually she doesn’t stop. Blaine called me at work today and asked me to come home because he was completely stressed out, he thinks he’s a bad father because of this,’ Kurt explained.

‘Blaine’s not a bad father, what the hell is wrong with him?’ Burt asked.

‘Dad,’ Kurt said stern, ‘Remember?’

‘Oh yeah, sorry kiddo,’ Burt apologized, ‘Right, have you um, have you checked Ella’s diaper?’

Kurt huffed. ‘Dad, we’ve tried everything. Yes, we checked her diaper. We also fed her, sang to her, let her sleep on our chests, we really did everything.’

‘Then I can’t help ya, son,’ Burt said, ‘You barely cried and if you cried me and your mother got you quiet the minute you started by hugging or holding you.’

Kurt laughed. ‘That sounds like me, yeah.’ Kurt had always loved giving and receiving hugs. After his mother died he couldn’t sleep well. Every night when he couldn’t sleep or woke up from a nightmare he held his teddybear close to him, loving how even the hugs from a teddybear could make him feel a little bit better. Then he met Blaine and he was kind of afraid of constantly asking him for a hug when he needed it but after that one time at the prom Kurt was sure Blaine didn’t mind. ‘Hey dad?’

‘Yeah kiddo?’ Burt asked.

‘Do you and Carole maybe want to come over next weekend? I know Blaine would love it and I guess Ella wants to meet her grandparents too,’ Kurt suggested.

Burt chuckled. ‘Of course kiddo. We’ll be coming over next week.’

‘Great, now if you don’t mind I’ll go and check on my crazy husband and my lovely daughter.’

‘Of course, kiddo,’ Burt said, ‘We’ll call later, ‘kay?’

‘Okay! Bye dad!’ Kurt said and smiled even though his father couldn’t see.

‘Bye Kurt. Tell Blaine and your little girl I said hi!’ Burt said and Kurt could hear the happiness in his voice. He knew deep down his dad still thought it was a little too soon, too early for Kurt and Blaine to become parents but he was happy for them.

‘I will do,’ Kurt said before hanging up. It wasn’t after the phone call ended that Kurt heard the sound coming from the living room. A song. And he unmistakingly heard Blaine singing along to it. Curiously, he slid off the bed and walked to the living room. He smiled when he opened the door and Sia’s “My love” now clearly sounded through the room. Blaine was swaying along to itwith his back turned to Kurt and he wondered if Blaine heard him open the door. ‘Hey you.’

‘Hey to you too,’ Blaine turned around to face his husband. He was grinning and holding Ella in his arms.

Kurt walked over to Blaine, wrapped his arms around Blaine’s waist and looked down at Ella inbetween them who had a peaceful smile on her face and her eyes were glistening. ‘She stopped crying,’ he said, suprised.

‘Apparently Sia’s her favorite,’ Blaine replied, ‘Or maybe she just likes dancing with me even thought I tried it before and it didn't work. I think the music really calmed her down.’

‘That’s probably it,’ Kurt smiled, ‘See, you’re not a bad dad at all. What did you do exactly?’

‘After I came in here I didn’t know what to do so I plugged my iPod in and chose a nice and slow song to shuffle along to and this was it. It’s the third time it’s playing right now,’ Blaine chuckled.

‘So you just danced with her?’ Kurt asked.

‘And I also sang along,’ Blaine added with a smile on his face.

‘I heard that,’ Kurt smiled and asked Ella: ‘You love papa’s dancing skills huh?’

‘Everybody loves my dancing skills,’ Blaine huffed and turned to Ella, ‘Especially daddy.’

‘But daddy loves everything about papa,’ Kurt said and pecked Blaine’s cheek. He walked away from Blaine and Ella and plopped down on the couch. ‘Before I forget, dad and Carole are coming over next weekend.’

‘Ooooh,’ Blaine said excited, ‘That sounds like fun, doesn’t it El?’

‘The main reason I called him was because we needed some parenting advice but he couldn’t help so I hope Carole can give us some tips when they come over,’ Kurt said.

‘But we don’t need those anymore, right?’ Blaine asked, ‘I got her to stop crying.’

‘We don’t need those right now indeed and I’m so proud of you for getting her to stop crying but I don’t want you to have a almost-mental-breakdown like before,’ Kurt protested, ‘We need help.’

‘Okay,’ Blaine agreed, ‘But where are your parents going to sleep? We made the guestroom into El’s bedroom and I don’t think they’ll both fit on the couch.’

‘Oh my God, I haven’t thought about that yet! I’ll get them a room in a hotel close to us,’ Kurt said and leaped off the couch.

Blaine chuckled. ‘Daddy’s a little crazy, isn’t he?’ he said loud enough for Kurt to hear it in the bedroom, where the laptop was.

‘Shush!’ Kurt yelled back and sighed when he heard Blaine laugh.


	4. Chapter 3

It was 17:46pm when Blaine heard Kurt’s car pull up in the driveway. Kurt went to pick up his dad and Carole at the airport while Blaine took care of Ella. She was sleeping soundly in Blaine’s arms when Kurt left and she was still sleeping now. Blaine could hear his husband’s muffled voice through the door. ‘Guys, it could be that Ella’s still asleep so we need to be quiet.’

And then he heard Burt’s lower voice saying: ‘Kurt, Care and I both raised a kid. We know that we need to stay quiet when a baby’s asleep’ which made Blaine chuckle quietly. Then he heard the key being put in the lock and being twisted before Carole and Burt wandered in, suitcases trailing behind them and Kurt practically tip-toeing over to Blaine to peck his forehead.

‘Hey, sweetie,’ Kurt whispered, ‘Everything went okay?’

‘Yeah, fine,’ Blaine whispered back, ‘She’s been sleeping the whole time you were gone.’ He carefully stood up to stand next to Kurt. He grinned when Carole turned around to look at them.

‘Oh, she’s so cute,’ she half whispered half gasped and stroked Ella’s cheek.

‘That’s because she’s ours,’ Kurt chuckled and pecked Blaine’s cheek who tried to chase Kurt’s lips with his own.

‘Guys,’ Burt interrupted the kissing fest, ‘you’re gonna give the kid a trauma with all your smooching.’

'Dad, believe me,' Kurt started, 'she's used to it.'

Burt shook his head. ‘Boys, please no.’

Both boys laughed, causing Ella to stir in Blaine’s arms.

'Oh, I think someone's waking up,' Blaine said and smiled. He traced Ella's little face with his finger while she slowly woke up. 'Hey El, some people are here to see you.'

When Ella’s skyblue eyes opened, Carole’s smile could’ve lit up New York. ‘Hey honey, it’s granny here,’ she said while roaming her fingers over Ella’s tummy.

'Do you want to hold her?' Blaine asked and nodded towards Ella.

Carole’s eyes widened. ‘Really? I’d love to, only if it’s really not a problem for you two.’

'Carole,' Blaine said, 'you’re family, of course it's okay for us. And besides, I really need to go to the bathroom, I was kinda hoping you or Burt would want to hold her so I can go.'

Carole laughed when Blaine awkwardly shifted his weight from his left to his right foot. ‘Okay, you go to the bathroom before your bladder knaps,’ she smiled.

‘Thanks,’ Blaine said and quickly but carefully handed Ella over to Carole before rushing off down the hall.

‘Wow, the kid really had to go,’ Burt laughed when they were alone.

‘Yeah, Blaine has a very small bladder. There are times that he has to go ten minutes after the last time,’ Kurt said and smiled when he heard Blaine’s voice coming from the bathroom.

‘You guys realize that I can hear you, right?’ he yelled, ‘And Kurt? Stop embarrassing me in front of our parents!’

Kurt laughed and said: ‘Well, he can hear us but I’m glad we can’t hear him doing his thing.’

‘Kurt!’ Blaine yelled from the bathroom before they heard the toilet being flushed, the door being opened and Blaine came out the bathroom, ‘Can I help it that this house has thin walls?’

He came to stand next to Kurt and subtly squeezed Kurt’s butt. ‘My revenge will be sweet, honey,’ he whispered into Kurt’s ear.

‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Kurt smiled. They both turned to Burt and Carole. Carole was busy pampering Ella and Burt was looking back at them with his eyebrows raised. ‘Dad?’ Kurt asked.

Burt raised his hands in defense. ‘Hey, you two are the awkward couple, not us.’ He smiled at Carole who had tears of joy in her eyes. ‘Look at you, honey, all motherly again.’

Carole couldn’t keep her eyes of off Ella, she probably didn’t even notice what was going on around her. ‘She’s the sweetest girl I’ve ever seen. I thought you guys told Burt that you couldn’t get her quiet?’

‘Well, she has her days where she’s restless and won’t stop crying,’ Kurt said and wrapped an arm around Blaine, ‘But sometimes Blaine gets her quiet by dancing with her.’

‘Dancing?’ Carole asked, smiling at Blaine, ‘How sweet!’

‘It works sometimes but there are times where really nothing helps so then we just let her cry until she’s exhausted herself,’ Blaine said. 

‘Some babies need something very specific to get them to stop crying. Like, does she have a stuffed animal?’

‘We haven’t had the time yet to go and buy one.’

‘Oh,’ Kurt suddenly said, ‘I forgot to ask if you guys wanted something to drink! We have everything; iced tea, coffee, regular tea, diet coke, water, you name it.’

‘Iced tea is good for me,’ Carole said and moved to the couch, ‘And Burt will take a glass of water, he’s on a diet and I don’t want him to get another heart attack.’

‘Carole!’ Burt said quickly and roamed his hand over his bald head, sighing deeply.

‘They have to know, Burt,’ Carole said stern but quickly returned to pampering Ella some more after that.

Kurt’s eyes were as wide as they could go and Blaine’s eyes were drifting from Burt to Kurt. With a shaky voice Kurt asked: ‘Dad? Can you help me with the drinks?’

‘Kurtie, I’ll help you. Your dad’s our guest, he doesn’t-’

‘Blaine, please,’ Kurt pleaded while keeping his gaze fixed on his father, ‘I need to talk to my father… alone. Can you go and sit with Carole until we’re back?’

‘Yeah, yeah sure,’ Blaine said, grabbing Kurt’s hand really quick and squeezing it before strutting over towards Carole and Ella.

Kurt and Burt disappeared into the kitchen and Kurt waited until the door behind them fell shut before quietly asking: ‘Another heart attack?’

‘Kurt,’ Burt started but Kurt quickly interrupted him.

‘Another?’ Kurt asked again, taking a step closer to his father, ‘Dad, what do Blaine and I need to know according to Carole?’

‘I, uh, had a minor heart attack two months ago but it’s nothing to worry about,’ Burt said.

‘Nothing to worry about?’ Kurt asked, ‘If it’s nothing to worry about why did you snap Carole off like that? You’re my father, of course I worry about you! When were you planning on telling us this? Next week? Next month? Next year, maybe? Or maybe Carole would’ve had to tell us because you might not have been there anymore!’

That moment the door opened and Blaine came in. ‘Kurt, we could hear you yelling in the living room. Ella started crying because of it. Maybe I should do the drinks, then you can go to Carole and Ella,’ he said and pulled a sighing Kurt into a hug.

‘Yeah, maybe,’ Kurt muttered and glared at his father, ‘I’m sorry, Blainey,’ he kissed Blaine’s cheek. ‘I’ll be in the living room if you need me.’ He left and almost slammed the door shut before he realised that there was a little baby in the room.

‘Carole told me about it,’ Blaine said while he opened the fridge and took out the iced tea for him and Carole, ‘Sorry you had to go through that again, I can’t imagine what it must be like.’

‘Painful,’ Burt answered, ‘But not as painful as seeing your kid getting angry for it. Blaine, you have to promise me you’ll never put Ella through the pain I put Kurt through.’

‘He’s not angry at you,’ Blaine said, ‘he’s just a bit… disappointed. He told me the story of your first heart attack and I didn’t know what to do to help him get over it. You’re his only father, Burt, he needs you. We need you, because you’re my father too. Harshly said, I don’t care what happens to my real father. To me, you’re my father and you’re Ella’s grandpa. So, the next time something happens and I hope nothing happens but if something happens you have to tell us first or Kurt will come to Lima and he’ll go all Lima Heights on you.’

‘Lima Heights?’ Burt asked, a tiny bit confused but more impressed by Blaine’s speech.

Blaine smiled and then remembered that Burt never met Santana Lopez before. ‘It’s, uh, something Santana used to say in high school. Basically, he’d kick your ass if you don’t tell him first,’ Blaine explained.

‘Oh,’ Burt laughed, ‘He can really do that?’

Blaine nodded while pouring two glasses of iced tea. ‘He once accidentally hit me in stage combat class and I got a serious bruise for a couple of weeks, I tell ya, he can go Lima Heights on you.’

Burt nodded and went to the fridge. ‘Does Kurt still drink diet coke or has he changed since high school?’

‘He’s still drinks diet coke,’ Blaine answered and grabbed two more glasses for Kurt and Burt.

‘Good,’ Burt said and walked over to Blaine to hand him the can of diet coke, ‘Hey, Blaine,’ he said and laid a hand on Blaine’s shoulder.

‘Yeah?’ Blaine asked and turned to Burt.

‘Did you mean what you said about me being a father to you?’ Burt asked and leaned back against the wall behind him.

Blaine nodded, smiled and took a step closer to Burt. ‘Of course you are, Burt. You and Carole are kind of the only family I have left, except for Kurt, Ella and Cooper then. Even during the time Kurt and I broke up, you were there for me and told me I shouldn’t give up on Kurt and thanks to you I didn’t give up and now we’re here. I can’t thank you enough for caring about me when others didn’t.’

‘Blaine,’ Burt stepped away from the wall and before he knew it Blaine was hugging him.

‘Kurt wouldn’t be the only one who’d go all Lima Heights on you if you don’t tell us the next time something serious happens,’ Blaine said.

Burt patted Blaine on the back. ‘I better follow your advice,’ he smiled, ‘I don’t want to get my ass kicked by my own son and his husband.’

‘Now you’re talking,’ Blaine smiled and let go of Burt, ‘I think you should apologize to Kurt tho, he’s pretty upset.’

‘I will, just let me help you with the drinks and let’s hope that Carole hasn’t claimed Ella yet. She’s cute,’ Burt smiled, ‘I never imagined my boys becoming parents so soon.’

‘He’s doing a wonderful job,’ Blaine said nodded towards the door to the living room with a sad smile on his face, ‘I, on the other hand, am probably going to get an award for “World’s Worst Papa”.’

‘If you keep thinking like that, you will,’ Burt said, ‘You’re doing great, just like Kurt. It’s normal for new parents to be confused and stressed out and being all like “oh dear God, what did I get myself into?”’

Blaine laughed at that. He did think that every once in a while but then he’d see Ella sleeping in Kurt’s arms and think to himself that’s what I got myself into, my family.

‘Do you think I had it easy after Elizabeth died?’ Burt asked, ‘I had an 8-year-old Kurt to look after who always wanted to have tea parties with everyone and he even dressed up like a fairy for God’s sake! I didn’t know how to take care of him! I’m a mechanic, not “World’s Best Mommy”. Kurt was a sweetheart but if you didn’t give him what he wanted he’d crash and burn the house down if you gave him enough time.’ He laughed at the memory of Kurt running around the house, sprinkling the glitters he used for his crafts all around the house. The house was a mess most of the time, but it was completely worth it.

‘But it was worth it,’ Blaine said, voicing Burt’s exact thoughts.

‘Exactly,’ Burt agreed, ‘I thought about giving up too but seeing Kurt grow up kept me going. You need to keep going too because Ella will need both her fathers to see her grow up.’

‘God, Burt, I don’t remember you being so convincing,’ Blaine smiled and grabbed two glasses from the countertop and walked to the door when Burt did the same. ‘But you’re right… And I need her too, she might be a handful but she’s the best thing to ever happen to me.’ He continued while he clumsily opened the door with his elbow and pushed it further open by bumping his hip to it.

*****

‘Here we are,’ Blaine said with a sing-song voice and set the glasses down on the coffee table before sitting down next to Kurt.

‘Good, I missed you,’ Kurt replied and turned to Carole, ‘Not that you’re not good company but I missed my hubby.’

‘Kurt,’ Burt said from the other side of the room, ‘I know-’

‘Carole told me everything, including the fact that it’s not okay for you to handle any stress from now on and I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you. I’m just worried, that’s all,’ Kurt apologized and got up to walk over to his father. ‘I’m just glad you’re okay,’ he said, pulling his father into a hug.

‘What would I be without a son like you?’ Burt wondered aloud and pulled back to look at Kurt’s tear-filled eyes. ‘Hey, no crying okay? You should be happy; I’m still here, you have a beautiful husband and kid and your parents are here!’

‘I’m happy,’ Kurt said and turned to smile at Blaine, ‘I am so happy.’

Burt sat back down and sipped his water while Kurt went to sit down on Blaine’s lap, not because they needed to save space but because Kurt loved being so close to Blaine. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt and kissed Kurt’s pulse point. ‘I’m so proud of you,’ he whispered and nuzzled his face in the crook of Kurt’s neck, ‘Most of the time you’re the stubborn one.’

‘So boys, how are you guys doing with this little cutie?’ Carole asked after sipping her iced tea, shifting Ella’s weight on her lap.

‘Pretty good, minus the small problems of course,’ Blaine smiled.

‘And the small mental breakdowns,’ Kurt continued which made Blaine roll his eyes.

Carole leaned forward and said ‘We’ll fix that’ before sitting back against the couch cushions. ‘But otherwise she seems like an angel.’

‘She is,’ Blaine and Kurt said at the same time, dissolving into giggles afterwards.

‘She is absolutely the best thing that has happened to us,’ Blaine said, ‘She is by far the loveliest person in my life.’

Kurt loudly cleared his throat before looking at Blaine with raised eyebrows. ‘Ahem?’

‘After you, of course,’ Blaine continued before looking at Kurt innocently, ‘You should know that.’ He kissed Kurt’s cheek before focusing on the conversation again.

‘Most of the time she’s happy, you know? All smiles and giggles when we do something funny but sometimes she has a rough day, crying all the time without quitting and absolutely nothing would please her. And we all know that Blaine is a people pleaser so he’s heartbroken when he can’t give Ella what she needs even though he tried everything,’ Kurt said.

‘Babies are…’ Carole started, ‘picky. I remember that Finn wouldn’t go to sleep without his favorite teddybear. I even bought two exactly the same ones so when I had to wash one, he’d still have his teddy but he could smell which was his ‘real’ teddy and which one wasn’t. It was terrible, he wouldn’t let me wash his teddy and he was furious if I did. Like I said before, babies need something specific to make them stop crying.’

Everyone in the room laughed and when the laughter died down again Kurt smiled: ‘That sounds like Finn.’

‘You also were a picky kid, son,’ Burt stepped in, ‘When we bought chocolate chip cookies you’d spit them out and yell “I want mommy’s cookies! Mommy needs to bake cookies for me!” and you wouldn’t stop yelling until Liz baked you cookies.’

Kurt nodded and looked down at Blaine’s arm around his waist. ‘I remember that,’ then he looked at Blaine, ‘and then when I was old enough we made those cookies together and when I moved out I found the recipe in one of her books.’

‘You still have that?’ Burt asked.

Kurt nodded. ‘It’s the only thing I still have from her. This way I can also bake mom’s cookies with Ella.’ He smiled when Blaine softly squeezed his side.

‘And you, Blaine?’ Carole asked after a long silence, ‘Were you picky when you were younger?’

‘I don’t… I don’t know actually. My parents never told me much about when I was a kid. I only know that I wouldn’t go out without wearing a bowtie and that hasn’t changed. Oh, and Pookie! Pookie was my pluche cat that I took everywhere with me, he was my best and only friend back then,’ he smiled brightly at Kurt, ‘Maybe I can find her somewhere! I know that I took her with me when I moved out, we can give her to El.’

‘I never knew you were a cat person,’ Kurt stated.

‘There are still so many little things you don’t know about me, sweetie,’ Blaine winked, ‘You’ll find everything out along the way.’

‘I think El needs some more papa and daddy time,’ Carole said after a while and stood up to give Ella back to Kurt, ‘then me and Burt will go into the kitchen and make a fantastic family dinner, sounds okay?’

‘Carole, you really don’t have to,’ Blaine said and wiggled his finger in front of Ella’s face, making her trying to grab it.

‘Don’t even try it, kiddo, when Carole wants to make dinner you can’t change her mind,’ Burt smiled.

‘Burt’s right, just stay there and have fun with your family until we get back,’ Carole smiled and nodded towards Kurt who had Ella propped up on his lap before she and Burt disappeared into the kitchen.

‘Oh!’ Kurt gasped and Blaine turned his head to see Kurt’s face close to Ella’s while he whispered: ‘Did you hear that, El? Granny is making us dinner! But what shall we do in the meantime, huh?’

Blaine smiled at the way Kurt was talking to Ella. His voice would get a little more high pitched than usual and his eyes would sparkle like never before. Kurt would scrunch up his nose in the most adorable way every time Ella smiled or giggled and the sound of Kurt’s giggles made Blaine’s heart flutter in his chest.

‘What do you think honey?’ Kurt suddenly pulled Blaine out of his thoughts.

‘Uh, yeah! Yeah, great,’ Blaine answered, smile plastered on his face while his mind tried to figure out what Kurt had said.

‘Oh yeah?’ Kurt asked suspiciously, ‘What did I say then?’

‘Daddy and El are going to give papa a lot of kissies and huggies?’ Blaine asked hopefully.

Kurt laughed and booped Blaine’s nose. ‘No, silly. El and I were kind of hoping you’d want to dance with us.’

Blaine smiled, putting his hand on Kurt’s knee. ‘Of course I want to dance with the two most beautiful people in my life.’ He stood up after taking Ella while Kurt got up and walked to the stereo.

Blaine’s iPod was still plugged in, as always, and Kurt chose a simple but still beautiful song to dance to. He strutted back over to Blaine and Ella while the intro of Taylor Swift’s “Safe And Sound” played in the background. He stood behind Blaine and wrapped his arms around Blaine’s waist, hooking his chin over his shoulder and kissing Blaine’s pulse point.

They both swayed their hips from side to side, Blaine holding Ella to his chest and Kurt singing some of the words along. ‘I love you two,’ he said halfway the song, pressing a kiss to Blaine’s shoulder and smiling at a giggling Ella in front of him.


	5. Chapter 4

‘Hello, baby,’ Blaine cooed as he held Ella close to his chest, ‘Hello, beautiful baby. The day is so beautiful because you are so beautiful.’

Kurt had to admit: as crazy as his husband might be, he always speaking the truth. 

It was only March but the sun was already shining bright, the flowers we’re already blooming and the birds had started their own little show choir in the garden, chirping their own cheery tunes all day long. It was a beautiful day but seeing the smile on his husband’s face and the twinkle in Ella’s blue eyes made it even better for Kurt 

‘God, you’re adorable,’ Kurt said, watching both his husband and his baby girl from the edge of the bed. 

Blaine came closer to the bed and leaned down to peck Kurt’s forehead, apparently giving Ella enough time to grab a strand of Kurt’s hair and pull it. Kurt gasped at the sharp pain as he felt Blaine’s lips still on his forehead and his hand flew up to his hair. 

‘El, let go, let go,’ Kurt said, trying to untangle Ella’s little fingers from his hair but instead Ella pulled her hand away from him, pulling at his hair again. ‘Ouch, Ella!’

Blaine caught up with what was happening and gingerly uncurled Ella’s fingers, effectively freeing Kurt’s hair while doing so. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked Kurt.

‘Hurts,’ Kurt whimpered a bit, fingers gently touching the spot where his skin was burning with pain from the pulling, ‘She’s so tiny but she’s so strong already.’

‘Just like her daddy,’ Blaine smiled and peeled Kurt’s hand away to press a soothing kiss to Kurt’s hair, making sure Ella was unable to grab Kurt’s hair again, ‘There, I kissed the boo-boo better.’

Kurt chuckled, shaking his head. ‘I love you,’ he smiled.

‘And I,’ Blaine booped Kurt’s nose, ‘love you too.’

Right at that moment, the doorbell rang and Blaine perked up. He gasped, looking at Ella. ‘Who could that be, El? Could it be grandma? Or a big, scary monster?’

He smiled when Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Well, you never know if Carole brought Burt along,’ Blaine explained, snickering.

'Make sure he doesn't hear that or El will have only have a daddy left,' Kurt chuckled, patting Blaine's shoulder as he padded past him to the living room to open the front door. 

Blaine looked at Ella who looked up at him, a little giggle escaping her rosy lips. 'Daddy doesn't mean that, granddad loves me and he knows it.'

He walked out of the bedroom just in time to watch Carole coming in, Burt trailing behind her.

'Good mor- oh look who's also already awake!' Carole smiled as she quickly walked over to Blaine and more importantly, Ella. She reached out her hands and swiftly took Ella from Blaine who watched Ella giggle as she laid in her grandma’s arms.

‘Hello to you too, Carole,’ Blaine smiled and watched the way Caroles eyes were lit and focused more on Ella than the world around her.

‘Oh yeah, sorry sweetie. Good morning,’ she pressed a kiss to Blaine’s cheek before returning all her attention to Ella again.

‘She’s totally enchanted by the girl, kiddos,’ Burt said, ‘When we got to our hotel room last night, she couldn’t stop talking about her. It was like I didn’t exist!’

‘Well, that’s because El here is much much cuter than you, honey,’ Carole said, not even looking up from Ella’s faintly blushing cheeks.

Blaine and Kurt both snickered, hands covering their mouths to hide their grins. ‘I’m just… gonna ignore that,’ Burt said and walked over to the couch where he plopped down. Kurt followed him, sitting down in the armchair across the sofa.

‘Oh wow, she has some muscles!’ Carole said as Ella grabbed and squeezed her finger tightly, ‘Soon, she’ll be as strong as her dad.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Kurt muttered, hand coming up to touch his hair again.

‘Ella thought it would be fun to pull at Kurt’s hair,’ Blaine explained after seeing Carole’s confused look.

‘Twice,’ Kurt added and smiled when Blaine came over to sit on his lap. 

‘Twice,’ Blaine echoed, smiling at Kurt’s tiny pout.

‘Okay, boys, ready for babycare 101?’ Carole asked as she sat down next to Burt, handing Ella over to him. Burt instantly cuddled her and made farting noises, trying to make her laugh. _God, that’s totally something Finn would’ve done if he was still here,_ Kurt thought, _He would’ve loved her to pieces._

‘Totally,’ Kurt smiled, watching Blaine look at Burt and Ella on the other side of the coffee table.

Carole nodded towards Blaine. ‘First of all, I need the attention of both parents.’

Blaine looked up when Kurt poked him in the ribs. ‘Huh?’ 

‘Haven’t you been looking at our girl for long enough today? You never look at me the way you look at Ella, I can tell you that,’ Kurt chuckled.

‘Sorry but,’ Blaine half whispered, half whined as he tore his gaze away from Ella, ‘look at her, Kurt. She’s so beautiful and I wanna hold her again.’

‘You’ve been holding her all day, honey,’ Kurt said, ‘Dad hasn’t even got to hold her for a minute since we adopted her.’

‘Okay,’ Blaine pouted. He snuggled closer to Kurt and wrapped his arms around him. ‘Then I’ll just hold you instead.’

‘Deal,’ Kurt whispered in Blaine’s ear before looking at Carole again, ‘Okay, I think we’re ready now.’

‘So, as a mother I can tell you guys that crying is completely normal for a baby. You should be more panicked when she doesn’t cry because that’s when something’s wrong,’ Carole started and she leaned forwards a bit, ‘The thing is: she has spent 9 months in her mother’s womb and she has felt safe there, knowing she was close to her mother. She has heard her mother’s heartbeat for nine months and she’s gotten used to it and suddenly, she’s here.’

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other. They sort of had an idea where this was going but they still waited for Carole to explain.

‘The warmth and comfort of the womb she was in is gone and her mother’s heartbeat is too. Now she’s here with two fathers, who apparently love her very much but who she doesn’t know yet. It’s normal for babies to act different for the first few days or weeks before she’s actually used to her surroundings.’

‘So we should just… give it some time?’ Kurt asked.

‘Yes,’ Carole nodded, ‘but also try to make her get used to the both of you. I understand you two have taken care of her the whole week, cuddling and talking to her and that’s good. But when she was tired, you probably laid her down in her crib, right?’

The two boys nodded and patiently waited for Carole to continue. 

‘Maybe that’s where you went wrong. It’s good that you talk or sing to her, that way she’ll recognize your voice and it will calm her after some time. I’ve told you about the mother’s heartbeat. Well, babies fall asleep quicker when they hear their parent’s heartbeat so when you see that she starts to get tired, hold her to your chest or lay her down on your chest so she can listen to your heartbeat. As for the crying, the heartbeat will eventually calm her down when she’s distressed too but that will also take some time.’

The two boys nodded and Blaine furrowed his brows when Carole started looking straight at him.

‘The worst thing you can do when your baby is crying is to start panicking yourself,’ Carole said and quickly continued when she saw panic and shock in Blaine’s eyes, ‘Honey, I’m not saying that what you did was wrong. The first time you’re alone with your child is hard, especially if you’re the dad and you’re young.’

Burt looked up at this and nodded. ‘Oh yes, Blaine, what you had to deal with was nothing compared to what I had to deal with back in the day.’ He looked at Kurt and said: ‘Sorry, son, but you were a real pain in the ass sometimes.’

Kurt rolled his eyes at his father. ‘Oh wow, thanks dad.’

Carole turned her full attention back on Blaine and smiled softly. ‘Blaine, it was a good job to call Kurt so he could take over. Now I’m not saying that you’re weak, honey, because we all know you’re one of the strongest people we know but what I’m saying is that you’re smart. This way you’ve let Kurt know you’re not ready to do it on your own yet, that you need him. I think Kurt would’ve done exactly the same if he was in the position you were in.’

Blaine looked at Kurt who nodded and hummed. ‘Of course. You’d be the first one I’d call,’ he told Blaine and started playing with the hair at the nape of Blaine’s neck.

Carole smiled at the two before continuing. ‘When she’s crying you can also take little walks with her. Just hold her anyway you think is most comfortable for your little girl and take a walk through the yard or something, spring is approaching so that might help. Colors and new things will get her interested and focused and she’ll cry less.’

Kurt and Blaine both filed that information away for later. They both loved taking walks through the park so that tip will be used a lot.

‘Next tip: the funny faces. Babies love funny faces, as you can see,’ Carole pointed to Burt who had blown up his cheeks and who now looked like a bald hamster but they all heard a tiny giggle coming from Ella. Blaine wouldn’t tell anybody but his heart ached because he wasn’t the one who was making his little girl smile right now. ‘Oh, and blowing raspberries on her tummy,’ she added.

‘Oh, mom used to do that too!’ Kurt exclaimed, ‘It always made me giggle, of course, that’s what she told me when I got older.’

‘See, it’ll work. And invent some new things yourself like little puppet shows or something like that,’ Carole ended, ‘Kids love puppets and I bet you’d be good at that. I think that’s all I can help you with, boys, I’m out of tips.’

‘That’s all?’ Kurt asked, eyes wide in surprise.

‘That’s all,’ Carole chuckled.

‘It’s that easy?’ Blaine asked as surprised as his husband.

‘It’s that easy,’ Carole echoed.

‘Oh wow,’ Blaine told Kurt, ‘How did we not know all this?’

Kurt chuckled. ‘Well, we’ve been running around like beheaded chickens the last couple of weeks so that might be it.’

‘That’s normal, honey. Sometimes you overlook the easier ways and do everything the hard way,’ Carole said.

‘Parenting is hard but I’m sure you two will work it out,’ Burt added.

‘Yeah,’ Kurt said, looking at Blaine, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ He noticed Blaine’s smile faltering just for a second before Blaine snuggled closer and buried his face in Kurt’s neck.

*****

They spent the rest of the day hanging out together. They had lunch in the garden, Kurt and Carole basked in the streaming sunlight while Blaine slowly swung on the swing he and Kurt had set up during the adoption process with Ella in his arms and Burt read the newspaper.

‘Look at him,’ Carole smiled as she nodded towards Blaine.

‘Huh?’ Kurt questioned, sitting up while taking his sunglasses off. He saw Blaine on the swing, holding Ella and seemingly singing a song to their daughter.

‘Look at him,’ Carole repeated, ‘He’s doing great with Ella.’

‘He is, isn’t he?’ Kurt wondered. He worried his lip but quickly stopped when Carole caught him.

‘Is there something wrong?’ Carole asked, turning to Kurt in her seat.

Kurt kept watching his family on the swing. ‘I don’t know,’ he eventually said.

‘Oh come on, bud, what’s eating ya?’ Burt said, lowering his newspaper just enough so his eyes were visible.

‘I think Blaine’s still a bit insecure about all this,’ Kurt said, ‘He thinks I don’t notice it but I do and it drives me nuts because I don’t know how to help him conquer his fear.’ 

‘He’ll come around,’ Burt said, focusing back on his newspaper.

‘I hope so,’ Kurt murmured, ‘I hate seeing him beating himself up over what his father did to him.’

Not much later, Blaine got up from the swing and walked over towards the three sitting on the lounging chairs. ‘She’s just taking a nap, I’m gonna go and put her in her crib, okay?’ he asked, approaching Kurt and his parents.

‘I’ll come with you,’ Kurt suggested and got up, making his way to his husband. He opened the glass door to the living room and let Blaine go inside first.

‘Thank you, honey,’ Blaine smiled and walked towards the bedroom door with Kurt trailing behind him, ‘Oh and I think Carole’s tips are working; the moment I sat down on the swing, Ella was just glowing. There was this sparkle in her eyes that I had never seen before and she kept staring at the leaves on the trees and you might think I’m crazy but it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.’

‘I don’t think it’s crazy at all,’ Kurt said, walking into the bedroom behind Blaine. Blaine gently lowered Ella into the crib before turning the baby monitor on and grabbing the spare one. When he turned to Kurt, Kurt was worrying his lip again.

‘What’s wrong?’ Blaine asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

‘Nothing, B,’ Kurt lied, ‘I’m fine.’

‘Kurt, you’re worrying your lip. Again. Something is wrong and you know you can tell me. I want you to tell me so I can help,’ Blaine said.

‘How can you help me if I have no idea how to help _you_?’ Kurt asked.

‘Wha- Kurt, let’s do this in the living room. I can’t risk waking up Ella,’ Blaine asked, confusion clearly showing on his face.

Kurt nodded and walked into the living room, Blaine on his heels this time. ‘What are you talking about?’ Blaine asked after he’d closed the door.

‘I don’t know how to help you,’ Kurt said, miserably.

‘Help me with what, Kurt?’ Blaine asked.

‘When my dad said that parenting is hard, you looked sad for a moment and I’m one hundred percent sure it has something to do with you thinking you’re gonna be like your dad,’ Kurt explained, walking over to sit on the couch, ‘and I don’t know how to help you get over that fear.’

‘That’s what you’re upset about?’ Blaine asked, coming over to sit to the edge of the coffee table. He saw Kurt nod and he grabbed Kurt’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly, ‘Honey, as long as you’re here to keep me sane and under control, I’ll be fine. Yeah, I’m afraid but like your dad said, we’ll make it. Baby, we _will_ make it.’

Kurt leaned forward and so did Blaine, holding his arms out and wrapping them around Kurt when he was in his reach. He pressed a kiss to Kurt’s shoulder and nuzzled his face in Kurt’s neck. ‘You’re nothing like your father, Blaine. Not a single bit. I love you and goddamnit Blaine, I’m gonna help you raise Ella to a beautiful woman even if it’s the last thing I’ll ever do!’

‘I love you too,’ Blaine mumbled against the skin of Kurt’s neck. He inhaled Kurt’s scent and he loved the familiar smell of vanilla. He pressed another kiss against Kurt’s pulse point this time.

‘We should head back out before they start looking for us,’ Kurt chuckled, rubbing over Blaine’s back. 

‘Just a little while longer,’ Blaine murmured and completely ignored the world around him. Now, only Kurt and Ella mattered to him. 

Right now, only his family mattered.


	6. Chapter 5

*two months later* 

‘Hey Coop,’ Blaine said happily as Cooper’s face showed up on his laptop screen. ‘Hang on, there’s someone Kurt and I would like you to meet.’

‘Blainers? Is that “someone” who I think it’s going to be?’ Cooper asked with a smile on his face.

‘Maybe,’ Kurt answered before Blaine could, ‘You ready, Cooper?’

‘I don’t think I’ll ever be ready when it comes to you two, but go ahead,’ Cooper chuckled.

Kurt came over and sat down next to his husband on the bed with Ella in his arms. ‘This is our daughter, Ella,’ Kurt grinned, resting his head on Blaine’s shoulder.

‘Guys,’ Cooper smiled, ‘she’s so precious.’

‘Cooper Jay Anderson, are you crying?’ Blaine asked with a laugh.

Cooper quickly wiped away his tears of joy and said, ‘No, of course not. There was something in my eye.’

Blaine snickered and made a funny face at Ella when she looked at him. ‘Yeah, right.’

‘I’m so proud of you, Blainers,’ Cooper said, ‘and you too, of course, Kurt.’

‘Thank you, Coop,’ Kurt smiled, looking briefly at his husband and daughter before focusing back on the laptop, ‘She’s been here for only about three months but it’s been a rollercoaster ride for us.’

‘I bet,’ Cooper agreed, ‘Especially if you’re so young, like you are.’

‘But we love her, and that’s the most important thing,’ Blaine smiled, turning his head to press a kiss to the top of Kurt’s head.

‘Oh and Cooper,’ Kurt said as Blaine pulled away and turned to the screen as well, ‘Blaine and I have a question for you.’

‘Go ahead,’ Cooper smiled.

Kurt and Blaine glanced at each other before they asked in unison: ‘Would you like to be Ella’s godfather?’

Cooper’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Guys, really? I’d love to be Ella’s godfather!’

Kurt laughed at Cooper’s reaction and shifted Ella’s weight in his arms. ‘Hear that, El? Uncle Coop is your godfather now,’ he smiled at her.

‘Do mom and dad know?’ Cooper suddenly asked, totally out of the blue.

‘Do they have to?’ Blaine retorted.

Cooper sighed. ‘They are the Ella’s grandparents, whether you like that or not. They have to know. And Ella has to know too, when she’s older.’

‘Why are you suddenly so concerned about mom and dad? Normally you’re always defending me, telling me that mom and dad are both bad parents because of the way they treated me when we were kids. Why the sudden change, Coop?’  Blaine asked suspiciously.

Cooper looked at Blaine, then at Kurt and then down to his own lap. ‘Blaine, dad… Dad has cancer. It’s pretty far advanced already, mom told me he has only a couple more weeks to live.’

Kurt wrapped an arm around Blaine’s waist and rested his head on his shoulder. He thought about the moment he found out about his mother’s cancer and remembered the way he needed the rest of his family around him to comfort him. Losing a parent is hard and Kurt had way too much experience with that. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered, pressing a small kiss to Blaine’s pulse point.

‘Oh don’t be,’ Blaine smiled at Kurt, ‘Now I don’t have to see that bastard  anymore.’

Cooper’s eyebrows shot up and surprise and so did Kurt’s when he pulled away from Blaine. They had never heard him talk about his father like that and it shocked everyone in the room (except for Ella, who was currently trying to wriggle out of Kurt’s hold to grab at Blaine’s bowtie).

‘Blaine, sometimes you can be such an ignorant douchebag,’ Cooper sighed.

‘What, why am I the douchebag? Dad abused _me_ , so it’s not _my_ fault,’ Blaine said.

‘Blaine, take a look at your husband over there,’ Cooper nodded in Kurt’s direction before sarcastically adding, ‘Well done, baby brother.’

Blaine looked next to him to see Kurt with tears in his eyes. ‘Kurt? What’s wrong?’

‘H-how can you say things like that!’ Kurt said with a brittle voice.

Blaine quickly set the laptop down next to him on the bed before turning to Kurt and running his hand up Kurt’s arm. ‘Baby, I-I’m so sorry.’

‘Don’t “baby” me!’ Kurt yelled, pulling away from Blaine and sighing when Ella started to cry, ‘I’m taking Ella for a walk… It was nice talking to you, Cooper.’ He got up from the bed and walked into the living room.

‘Bye, Kurt…’ Cooper said, even as Kurt was already out of earshot.

‘I’m so stupid,’ Blaine mumbled.

‘Oh no, you’re not stupid. You’re an asshole,’ Cooper said.

Blaine was still staring at the door Kurt had slammed shut behind him and said: ‘I know.’

‘No wait, that wasn’t the description I was going for. You are the biggest asshole I’ve come across in a long time,’ Cooper clarified, ‘Even I know what happened to Kurt’s mother and you know I barely listen to the stories of other people!’

Blaine turned back to his laptop. ‘I fucking know, Cooper! Okay? You made your point!’

‘Well, if you know then what the hell are you still doing here?’ Cooper asked, ‘Go after him, apologize. And then I don’t mean “apologize” but “ _apologize_ ”, okay?’

‘Yeah,’ Blaine sighed, rubbing his forehead, ‘You’re right. I-I gotta go, I’ll talk to you later.’

‘See ya, brother!’ Cooper said and ended the Skype call.

Blaine got off the bed and ran to the living room, hoping Kurt would still be there. ‘Kurt?’

No reply. Ella’s stroller was gone and there was only one pair of shoes left by the door and it would stay there because Blaine was not going to waste any time on tying his shoelaces while Kurt was walking further and further away from him so he just walked outside, barefoot.

He looked around the front yard and then the rest of the street. He almost tripped over his own feet as he ran towards Kurt when he noticed him at the end of the street. ‘Kurt!’ he yelled, ‘Kurt, wait!’

He slowed down as he came closer to Kurt and took a hold of his arm, making him stop completely. ‘Kurt, please, listen to me,’ he pleaded, trying to catch his breath while looking at his husband’s tear-streaked face.

Kurt looked up at Blaine, tears shimmering in his eyes. ‘Y-you’re h-horrible!’ he yelled.

‘I know,’ Blaine said, defeated, ‘I know what I said was wrong, and I want to apologize, Kurt. And not just some stupid “I’m sorry” like before, but a real apology.’ Blaine then sat down on the nearby bench and patted the spot next to him. ‘Please, Kurt?’

Kurt hesitated, but eventually sat down next to Blaine, wheeling the stroller so it was right in front of them so that they could watch Ella together. He didn’t look at Blaine, he just stared at the lovely face of his little daughter who had stopped crying as soon as she could see the pretty flowers and colors everywhere.

‘I am an idiot,’ Blaine started, ‘I hurt you in the worst way possible. I forgot about your mother, who is the person you care most about, and I only thought about me and my family. You and Ella are my family now, Kurt, and you two are _so_ important to me, more than you could ever know. I don’t know what I can possibly do to make it up to you but I swear I’ll do my best. You know that I hate fighting with you, baby.’

There was an uncomfortable silence before Kurt said: ‘I hate fighting with you, too, but what you said was really insensitive. You know I’d give everything I have to see my mom back just one more time, and you actually have the chance to see your father again!’

‘I know,’ Blaine said, looking down at the ground in shame and wiggling his toes while waiting for Kurt’s reply. He knew that Kurt wasn’t in the hospital when his mother passed away because Burt thought that he shouldn’t have to see her suffer. Kurt didn’t have the chance to say goodbye to her, hug her one last time or give her a quick kiss on the cheek. But Blaine  had the chance, and if he didn’t want to do it for himself, then he needed to do it for Kurt.

‘Your father might not be the best father ever, but he doesn’t deserve to die like that. Cancer is a horrible disease, I’ve seen what it did to my mother and it’s not pretty,’ Kurt said, turning to look at Blaine, ‘Nobody deserves to die like that.  You don’t even wish cancer on your worst enemy.’

‘You’re right,’ Blaine said, still not daring to look at Kurt, ‘and I promise that if you want me to visit my father before he dies, I will. I’d do anything for you.’

‘That’s indeed what I want, because I know that if you don’t see him one last time before he dies, you’ll regret it,’ Kurt said.

‘Okay,’ Blaine nodded.

Kurt sighed. ‘Will you look at me, Blaine Anderson-Hummel?’ he asked, grabbing Blaine’s chin gently and turning it so Blaine had no choice but to look at him, ‘You might be an ignorant douchebag, but you’re my ignorant douchebag and I still love you. For better or for worse, remember?’

Blaine nodded again. ‘I’m really sorry about this, Kurt.’

‘I know you are and it’s okay now,’ Kurt said, leaning in to press a kiss to Blaine’s lips and cup his cheek, ‘as long as you never say something like that ever again!’

‘Deal,’ Blaine smiled, resting his head on Kurt’s shoulder and stretching his legs with a sigh. He closed his eyes and just basked in the sunlight.

‘I love you,’ Kurt smiled and turned his head to press a kiss to the top of Blaine’s head.

‘Love you too,’ Blaine murmured.

Kurt rubbed a hand up and down Blaine’s thigh. ‘You wanna go home?’

Blaine shook his head. ‘Nope.'

‘You sure?’ Kurt wondered, ‘We could have a little picnic in our own garden… You, me, Ella, a cozy blanket, the strawberries that are in the fridge right now, and a bottle of milk for Ella, because she’s too young to eat strawberries.’

Blaine chuckled. ‘Mmm, I’d love that. Just some quality time before you have to go back to work tomorrow.’

They had both become much stronger in the two months after Carole and Burt had left for Ohio. Yes, they still called every once in a while asking, “Is this normal?” and, “Are we doing it okay like that?” but now Blaine wasn’t freaking out anymore when Kurt had to run by the store and when Kurt had to leave for work.

Kurt was proud of him. Prouder than when Blaine got accepted into NYADA, or when Blaine got to work with June Dolloway. He was _fucking_ proud of his husband.

And Kurt, Kurt doesn’t automatically think about a possible mental breakdown whenever Blaine called him at times he knew Kurt was at work or at the store. Now, the calls were more like, “Kurt, she laughed at me! I recorded it and I think I’m gonna set it as my ringtone,” and “Uh, yeah, sweetie, Ella threw up on me again. What do I need to do to get the stain out again?” which gave Kurt energy to finish his work quicker so that he could go home to his two sweethearts sooner.

‘Alright then, let’s go,’ Kurt smiled, getting up from the bench and grabbing Blaine’s hand, ‘Get up, love.’

Blaine got up as well, looking into the stroller and smiling at the little face that was staring up at him. ‘You want to spend some quality time with Papa and Daddy too? Yeah?’

Ella just kept staring at him with her bright blue eyes and he smiled, stroking her little cheek before turning to Kurt, who was covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hide a smile while he looked down at Blaine’s feet. He wiggled his toes, smirking at Kurt. ‘You like what you see?’ he asked, chuckling.

‘Where are your shoes?’ Kurt laughed.

‘Home,’ Blaine smiled, grabbing the stroller and wheeling it next to Kurt, ‘It’s not like you’ve never seen my feet before, sweetie. Come on, we’re losing quality time here.’

Kurt walked next to his husband with their arms hooked as they walked back to their house.

*****

‘Wheeeeee!’ Blaine smiled as he lifted Ella up into the air, trying to stop her crying. He and Ella were both on the picnic blanket while Kurt went back inside to warm up her bottle of milk. ‘Someone’s a little hungry, huh?’

Blaine held Ella to his chest while he said: ‘Don’t worry, Daddy will come back really soon and then you’ll have the best meal you’ve ever had. Yes, you will. Yes, you will because Daddy’s a really good cook.’

‘There’s nothing easier than putting a baby’s bottle in the microwave, Blaine,’ Kurt said, coming closer to his family, ‘Don’t make her have too great expectations about my cooking when she’s older.’

‘But your cooking is amazing, babe,’ Blaine said as he handed Ella over to Kurt and grabbed the bottle instead. He smiled when Kurt sat down between his legs with Ella in his arms and he wrapped an arm around Kurt’s waist.

‘Charmer,’ Kurt said as he turned and grabbed the bottle from Blaine’s hands.

Blaine kissed the back of Kurt’s neck before hooking his head over his shoulder, sighing happily as Kurt leaned back into his embrace. ‘I love you,’ he murmured.

‘Mmm, I love you too,’ Kurt replied, turning his head to kiss Blaine.

Kurt and Blaine both loved these silly little moments with their little family, and they’d cherish them forever, like Kurt cherished the moments he spent with his mother, and like Blaine cherished the few good moments he spent with his father.

*****

That night, Kurt awoke to the sound of sniffling. He slowly blinked his eyes open and reached out to Blaine’s side of the bed, which was surprisingly cold. He turned over, faintly seeing Blaine’s silhouette in the darkness of the summer night. He was hunched over Ella’s crib, crying quietly as he wiped the fresh tears off of his cheeks.

He got out of bed and stepped closer to Blaine, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind and kissing Blaine’s pulse point. ‘What’s wrong, honey?’ he whispered.

Blaine turned around in Kurt’s arms, nuzzling his face in Kurt’s neck as the sniffling got louder.

'Hey, shh,’ Kurt cooed, 'It’s okay, it’s okay.’

'It’s not,’ Blaine whispered, 'What if… What if Ella will think the same way about you or me when she grows up that I think about my father?’

‘Don’t think like that, honey,’ Kurt continued, pulling away from Blaine to sit down on the bed. He turned on the lamp on his nightstand before he grabbed Blaine’s hand and pulled him to the bed, making him sit down next to him. ‘She won’t think that way about us, I know that.’

‘How can you be so sure?’ Blaine sniffled, ‘I keep thinking about it and-’

‘I’m sure about this because,’ Kurt interrupted as he cupped Blaine’s face, ‘we don’t hurt our baby. We don’t hit her like your father used to hit you, sweetie. We’re different. We love our little Ella with every single inch of our hearts and she will know that ‘cause we’ll spoil her with a lot of Christmas and birthday presents every year, I’ll design her prom dress when the time’s there and we’ll be there at her wedding so we can sing a duet for her and her loved one. She will think we’re the best parents ever.’

Blaine chuckled, feeling Kurt thumb away his tears. ‘Oh, I love you,’ he said.

‘And I love you too,’ Kurt smiled before pulling Blaine into a sweet, romantic kiss. He smiled against his Blaine’s lips when he eventually heard a quiet little moan from Blaine. He bopped Blaine’s nose as he pulled away from him and Blaine made grabby hands at him.

‘No,’ Blaine whined, ‘Come back, come back, I wanna kiss you some more.’

Now it was Kurt’s turn to chuckle. ‘I have a better idea,’ he said, shuffling further onto the bed until he felt the pillows underneath him before he laid down, ‘We could cuddle and kiss some more in bed, what do you think?’

‘Mmm, perfect,’ Blaine murmured, crawling onto the bed as well and settling down next to his husband. He wrapped an arm around Kurt’s waist and  kissed his cheek before resting his head on Kurt’s  chest.

Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine’s back while he was slowly dozing off. 'Good night, gorgeous,’ he whispered after a few minutes.

‘Night, beautiful,’ Blaine mumbled sleepily as he snuggled some more into Kurt’s side before falling asleep in his husband’s arms.


End file.
